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Category Archives: news analysis
IndustriALL Global Union – Labor Will Defend US Democracy
“Attempting to overthrow a democratic election through violence is fascism. The labor movement has always been and remains an implacable opponent of fascism and defender of democracy. As one of the world’s largest democratic organizations, representing more than fifty million manufacturing, energy and mine workers worldwide, IndustriALL Global Union, together with its affiliates and allies, will always defend democracy.” Continue reading
GM to Convert More than 650 US Temp Employees to Full-Time
General Motors says that more than 650 hourly employees at its sites in the U.S. will transition from temporary to regular full-time employment during January 2021. These employees work at nine GM manufacturing plants and other sites in Michigan, Indiana, … Continue reading
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Commerce – S. Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam Tire Dumping
Using Census Bureau trade numbers, AutoInformed figures this involves 85,330,506 tires with a value of more than $3.5 billion. The case will drag on well into this year. Continue reading
Aston Martin Returns to Formula 1 in 2021?
Whether that holds true today given the tatters that F1 was in last year remains to be proven. The 2020 F1 season is one I won’t miss. (I guess the nicest way to characterize the last race is “strategic.” This is a polite way of saying there wasn’t any racing going on. Ferrari with six straight losing seasons. Mercedes dominating qualifying and the races as it had for years on years. YAWN. Changing 2021 down-force doesn’t appear to be anything but a meaningless tweak. I know: don’t write your lede on the way to Australia in 2021. Still it reminds me of the McClaren mid-1980s domination years that badly damaged F1 with its lack of racing. ) Continue reading
Posted in marketing, news analysis, racing
Tagged aston martin, auto industry commentary, autoinformed, autoinformed.com, Formula 1, Ken Zino, red bull, Sebastian Vettel
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Setback – Ford Motor and Mahindra End JV Discussions
The failure “was driven by fundamental changes in global economic and business conditions – caused, in part, by the global pandemic – over the past 15 months. Those changes influenced separate decisions by Ford and Mahindra to reassess their respective capital allocation priorities,” Ford said. Ford in AI’s opinion is on track to lose $400 billion this quarter. Ford and Mahindra announced an alliance in September 2017, and it was expected to be operational by mid-2020. Continue reading
Small Business Pulse Weak – Large Negative Covid Effects
A tip of the AutoInformed racing helmet to Census Bureau employees for doing their jobs whilst under constant and ongoing attacks from the Republicans and COVID19. Help is on the way for others, but it took the election of President Biden to signal the beginning of the beginning of recovery on 20 January 2021 at noon. Better late than never. But for the suffering it’s small compensation for enduring a President for four years who – based on his actions in office was unemployed all the while being pampered, housed, fed and subsidized – aka welfare for the rich – by taxpayers he disdains. Continue reading
Droning On: FAA Belatedly Issues Unmanned Aircraft Regs. Bits of Aircraft Rules Pilots Obey Now Will Eventually Apply
These rules come at a time when drones are the fastest-growing segment in the entire transportation sector – with currently more than 1.7 million drone registrations and 203,000 FAA “certificated” (not even close to what private pilots must know on the FAA written test) remote pilots. Continue reading
FAW To Enter EU with a Luxury Electric SUV – Hongqi E-HS9
FAW Hongqi is a premium manufacturer of passenger vehicles with a time-honored history in China as First Auto Works – established in 1953 under a communist 5-year plan and initially making Russian trucks. FAW became China’s first automobile manufacturer when it unveiled the nation’s first domestically produced passenger car, the Hong Qi, in 1958. Continue reading
Posted in news analysis
Tagged auto industry commentary, autoinformed, autoinformed.com, faw, First Auto Works, Hongqi E-HS9, Ken Zino
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New LG and Magna Joint Venture in Powertrain Electrification
The new company, tentatively called LG Magna e-Powertrain, is said to combine Magna’s strength in electric powertrain systems and automotive manufacturing with LG’s expertise in component development for e-motors and inverters. The stated goal is to hasten both partners’ growth in the electric powertrain market. The market for e-motors, inverters and electric drive systems is expected to have significant growth between now and 2030, and the JV will target this fast-growing global segment.The question in AutoInformed’s opinion is to how many electrification parts and services will be brought in-house by automakers and how much will go to suppliers? Continue reading
COVID Changes – Digital Auto Lending Infected
“The pandemic has severely disrupted dealer-lender communication, with many dealers reporting that lenders were delayed or not available when they needed them, or not able to assist in a timely manner,” said Patrick Roosenberg, director of automotive finance intelligence at J.D. Power. This of course begs the question of there’s another solution – such as borrowers dealing directly digitally with lenders, which will eliminate a lucrative profit center at dealerships. Continue reading
Artificial Intelligence Will Bring Scooter Riding to Bike Lanes?
The micro-mobility part of Ford Motor Company claims Spin Insight Level 2 with Drover AI’s computer vision and machine learning platform, equips Spin’s vehicles with a camera, an array of sensors, and on-board computing power. Spin claims Drover’s technology is highly adaptive and easily scaled to new environments, allowing an e-scooter to” understand its surroundings in real time and assist riders in making safe riding decisions.” Not a word was mentioned of potential privacy or legal issues or who owns the customer data produced and how it will be used. Future capabilities planned include detecting wrong-way riding, adjusting vehicle speed based on riding conditions, and collision warnings. Continue reading
EU – Truck Makers Agree to Be Fossil-Fuel-Free By 2040
This is a bold move considering that ~97% of new European trucks sold are powered with diesel engines. It also underscores a growing movement of citizen voters who hold corporations accountable for negative social effects produced by their goods and services. The incoming President Biden Administration has promised to address environmental issues mocked by loser Trump and has already said it will rejoin l’accord de Paris. This agreement is within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), dealing with greenhouse-gas-emissions mitigation. AutoInformed thinks that it is only a question of time before a similar deal is put in place in the US. Continue reading
Posted in alternative fuels, electric vehicles, energy, environment, milestones, news analysis, transportation
Tagged auto industry commentary, autoinformed, autoinformed.com, European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, Henrik Henriksson, Ken Zino, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
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US Cuts Deal with UAW Union on Reform, Corruption and Fraud
In a partial UAW victory, the civil lawsuit was not filed pursuant to the federal anti-racketeering RICO law because the investigation by the United States did not uncover any involvement by organized crime or the mafia in the operations of the UAW. Instead, the civil complaint sets forth in detail a series of corrupt and fraudulent acts by former officers and board members of the UAW, as well as executives of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. GM’s RICO lawsuit against FCA is ongoing. Continue reading
Ford Future Trends – Younger Gen Less Resilient than Older
Younger generations have taken it harder than their older peers: 63% of Gen Zers say adapting has been harder than they imagined, vs. 42% of Boomers who say the same. How these attitudes will influence the world in 2021 and beyond is unknown. Continue reading
Posted in economy, environment, news analysis
Tagged 2021 Ford Trends Report, auto industry commentary, autoinformed, autoinformed.com, Ken Zino
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Boeing to Pay More Than $2.5 Billion for 737 Max Fraud
The Justice Departments reputation and adherence to the law is subject to considerable debate under the pardoner in Chief – soon to be ex-president Trump and the former Attorney General (resume laundering by resigning 23 Dec 2020) and Republican lawyer William P. Barr. He is also known here as no-holds Barr for his relentless interference in Justice Department principles and law enforcement procedures to protect Trump, aka the Man Who would be King. Boeing, debatably, profited from such interference when the Trump Administration refused to ground the 737 Max despite growing incidents and fatalities. Continue reading →